The Mutant
by RachMachine
Summary: This a story based on Maximum Ride. I dunno if anyone will read it since it doesn't have a main category- but please do! It's about a girl named Whisper and how she joins the group. She's part bird part wolf part human. Very cool.
1. Default Chapter

The Mutant

A.N- I don't own any of James Patterson's works, and can't compare myself to him, since he writes in a different style than me, but I did write this fan fic and hope that you people will review it. I worked really hard on it, and it is not done. Um… Please give me comments! Amy Lee Rocks!

The flock of bird kids was right ahead of me, staring at me with terror and watching me with suspicion. The oldest one, the dark haired girl like me, walked over to me, her fists clenched. A boy that looked about her age, again with black hair, followed her and placed a protective hand upon her shoulder. Obviously the two were involved; you could easily tell by the way he touched her; protection, care.

I stepped forward another step, a smirk on my pale face, my long black locks blowing into my eyes; I bowed deeply. "I'm Whisper, thanks for asking." One of the flock, a tall boy in the back with empty eyes, turned to another boy, younger, and asked him what was happening. I sighed.

The oldest one, fists still bared, the boys hand still on her shoulder, gripping it tightly, stared at me, her eyes cutting through me. "I rule this pack, if you want Angel, you're going to have to get through me first." I surveyed the scene; I could take them; 6 kids, all younger than me. Well, maybe not the oldest girl. She was Maximum Ride after all. But of course, that was not what I was here for.

I shrugged and shoved my hands into my pockets of the black hoody I was wearing, with a band emblem on it; Evanescence was a dark rock band with a totally rocking lead singer named Amy Lee. Beneath the hoody was a blank tank-top, and a black pair of pants, baggy and full of pockets, and of course, a black pare tennis-shoes. "I'm not here to kill you, Maximum."

Maximum frowned. "But you are an Eraser; Erasers always try to kill us." Her boyfriend stepped in front of her, sneering dangerously. His dark hair that fell past his ears blew in the cold wind rushing around us. His eyes were a dark brown, and his arms muscled; he was a pretty good-looking guy.

"Shut-up wolf-girl, we all know that you're lying. An Eraser is an Eraser, and Erasers kill people like us. We know it; we've been running from them for a while now. Max here, killed your leader, Ari 2 years ago. Back off okay!" His voice was deep and you could tell he didn't usually talk. He slid his hand into Max's and tried to pull her behind him. She resisted.

"Whisper? Wait, I think I've heard of you." Her face was thoughtful for a second, then it lit-up. "You're not just an Eraser; you're a mixture of bird AND wolf. Like 94 human, 3 wolf, 3 bird. The best creation the white-coats ever made." I nodded; it was true. I flexed my arm, my incredibly strong arm, and unfurled my black feathered wings. It _was_ pretty neat being able to turn into a wolf anytime I needed, and when I wasn't, being able to fly off.

One of the other kids, the youngest, walked up to me and peered up into my face. She was small and innocent looking, but I saw through it all. I noticed gills on her neck and knew she had to be the one the white-coats called "Angel", a winged-girl able to breathe under water. She spoke, "If you aren't here to kill me, what are you doing here? And how old are you? Erasers do not have very long life-spans." She crossed her arms across her flat chest. She looked about 8 or 9.

I kicked a pebble on the asphalt of the basket-ball court we were all standing on. "I'm here because I don't have anywhere else to go. I'm not a full Eraser and I've been told that my life-span is like a normal humans. What are all your names and how old are you?" The all took turns telling me. Max was 16, Fang was 16, Angel was 8, The Gas Man was 10, Iggy was 15, and Nudge was 12. That made me older than them all; I just turned 17.

Nudge stepped forward. "You can't join our group; Max is the leader." I stared at her, my eyes pleading, and she faltered, and turned to Max and Fang. "I mean, she can't can she? She's an ERASER! She'll kill us all!"

The Gas Man came and stood beside Angel (as it turns out he was her brother). His hair was a dusty brown and his eyes the same. He took the ten-year-old's arm and tried to pull her back towards the blind guy named Iggy. He whispered to her, trying to make her give in and come with him. "Angel, this kid is _dangerous_ you don't know what she might do. Come on, you're too close to her. Any minute she might…"

I rolled my eyes. "I am NOT a freakin Eraser! I am a MUTANT! Okay!" I unfurled my wings and flew up to the basketball hoop and sat on it, holding my wait under my wings, less it break and send me crashing to the pavement. Max eyed me curiously.

"If you haven't already noticed, we are ALL mutants." She motioned to the group. "See our wings? That's not something normal people have. And Angel there has gills, tell me that that's normal." I scanned the group. They looked normal, all clean cut kids, in not too dirty clothes, with cut hair; until they turned around. Every single one of them had bushy wings sticking out of their shoulder- all different colors; Max's was tawny, Angel's was white and so on. None were black, except mine; I stood out like a black sheep among lambs.

I pushed myself up and stood on the rim, still holding my weight. "You might all be mutants, but I however, am a freak!" I jumped down and pushed hard with my wings, taking off into the air. I soared higher, until the gang was only specks on a black sea. I turned away and out of the corner of my eye, I saw one of the specks take off. I flew faster, trying to out run whoever it was; more than likely, it was Max.

Ahead of me in the park was a rather large tree, I did something really stupid- I landed in it, thinking I could hide from her. 10 seconds later, she landed beside me. "Whisper?" I was surprised that she remembered my name, I turned to face her. She was eying my wings which were only partly folded. "So your wings are black, what's the big deal." I unfolded them fully and they pushed aside some branches and leaves to make room; her eyes got really wide. "Okay, so you have a bigger wing span than us. I'd kill to have that."

I shook my head. "So it makes me able to glide more than you, so what. They're black, anyone can see them and they can't be covered up by any clothes. You know how much it hurt me to have to cut through this hoody so that I could have wing slits?" Max looked at my shirt, obviously not knowing anything about the band it advertised. "I want to be _normal_, Maximum. I don't want to have to cut up my clothes so they'll fit."

She crossed her arms across her chest. "Get used to it. That's what you get for being a mutant. And don't say 'I couldn't help it' because I know you couldn't help it. It's not fair, but it's life. At least we aren't toad mutants that live like a week and then die. _That_ wouldn't be fair." Her eyes fell back on my wings and I looked at hers. I imagined to anyone else, we looked like adolescent angels in a tree; a dark one and a light one, two opposite sides conversing. I guess she was thinking the same thing, because the next second she stood and took off from the branch.

I looked up at her, confused. Was she just going to leave me here? I'd spent over 2 weeks tracking her down, and now she was going to fly off and leave me in a tree. She laughed at me. "Come on then! You can't just sit there and let people see you!" Oh! She _wasn't_ going to leave me. I stood up and hopped off the branch, following her into the sky.

We flew silent for a few minutes, just enjoying the feel of cool air under our wings. It really was beautiful in California; that's where I'd found them. Max turned to me and watched me fly. "That's really neat how you hardly ever have to flap your wings. That's gotta be handy." She on the other hand, flapped 2 or 3 times a minute. I nodded, continuing to look straight.

"What about the others? Won't they wonder where you are?"

She shook her head. "No, I told Fang that I was going to follow you, and to take care of them." She smiled. "He'll watch over them, he's good at that." She looked dreamy for a second, and I kind of envied her.

I decided to ask the already known. "Are you two… Involved?" It wasn't as if I cared, I was just curious.

She was silent for a minute, thinking it over. I waited. We were now flying over a neighborhood of small, but humble homes. Finally she answered. "Not really. We've kissed a few times, but that's it. We're really close, but I think he's scared that if we get too involved and then something goes wrong, we'll tear up the group." She frowned. "I feel the same way, of course."

"I guess that's reasonable." Ahead of us was a group of children playing, probably skateboarding, in the street. "We better fly higher." With two strong beats of my wings, we were high above them, too far to be considered as any more than raptors.

She raised an eyebrow. "Exactly _why _do you care if me and Fang are together?" I was afraid she'd ask that. "We aren't a couple, but you can't have him." I laughed; she was staking claims on Fang, and I'd barely even asked about him.

"Don't worry; I won't take him from you. Not that he'd want me anyways." There I was being negative again, I had a problem with that.

She looked relieved. "Okay good. But seriously, why are you so negative?" Like she didn't know! I was a mutant among mutants! A freak among freaks! I didn't fit in with the Erasers and even though I really wanted too, I didn't fit in with Max's group either. I really didn't feel like explained all that to her.

"I already told you I was a freak. I am not like you guys- I can turn into a wolf. And I'm not like the Erasers because I have freakin wings. I don't fit in anywhere." Anger flashed across Max's face; she looked pissed.

"_You're_ a freak? Try being an 8-year-old flying fish! Or a 14-year-old blind boy with wings! Or a 10 and 12-year-old that want more than anything to have friends, but do to there WINGS can't!" Her voice was strong, while protecting her friends. She sighed, lowering it, to say something more. "Or a 16-year-old girl with wings, that's in-love with a boy with wings who doesn't want to go out with her, and has a voice inside of her head like a crazy person." What was she talking about? The white-coats never mentioned that she was crazy.

She turned away from me, completely quiet for a second, while trying to gather her thoughts. She spoke again. "I knew you were coming, Whisper, the voice told me. It said that a loner, half Eraser, half bird, was on its way to find us. It said your name, but it didn't say whether you were friend or foe. I told Fang about it and he brushed it off at first. Then I told him that you were stronger than me and he got kind of scared."

"I'm not stronger than you. No one is stronger than you; the white-coats even fear you because you're so powerful."

She shook her head. "I may be a pretty strong bird-mutant, but nothing compare to a bird-wolf-mutant. You could tear me limb from limb in a second." Why was she fighting with me? I was arrogant when it came to my strength, but yet I still admitted that she was stronger. Why did she bother trying to argue?

"NO! You're stronger!" Suddenly I felt like a kid arguing over who jumped farther out of the swing. Not that I ever did, seeing as how I don't even HAVE any friends and I'd always win anyway with my wings. But anyways.

Max glared at me, her eyes blazing. "Fight me."

Ahead of us was an old field full of old, tall, browned grass. It was perfect for snakes and chiggers, but it was also perfect for a fight. We flew down to it, dropping altitude so fast my lungs screamed. My sneakers touched the dirt and knee-high grass before Max's did. I balled my hands into fists and prepared to lose against the strongest mutant ever.

She landed in front of me, facing me with an icy stare and frowning tremendously. Neither one of us moved. A warm gust of wind blew through the field and brought sweat to my temples. The grass whipped against my legs, and even though my pants were thick, it stung and itched against my calves. Max looked at me, her short-sleeved shirt a lot less protective than my thick hoody in a fight. But hoodys were hot, and no way was I going to take off my favorite shirt and lay it in this dirty field. Besides, it takes forever to get a shirt on when you have wings sticking out of your back.

"Who's gonna throw the first punch?" Max's voice dripped venom, and I didn't really know why. This was not a "you-picked-on-me-all-though-high-school-and-now-I-am-going-to-take-my-revenge" fight. We were just fighting to see who was stronger. But Max sure could play the scene.

I was tired of waiting in the hot sun, I jumped pounded my wings against the air and flew at Max, my arms extended, ready to damage. She however, was not bad at defense, she leapt to the side, spun around and grabbed my wings, holding them, pulling at the feathers. I winced.

Spinning, I caught her in the chest with a kick. It wasn't a powerful kick, but it wasn't a wimpy one either. If it hurt, she didn't show it. She wasn't holding back; she punched out, caught me in the stomach and knocked the breath out of me. I flew back a bit and then my wings gave out and I toppled to the ground. She dropped down too, waiting to see what I was about to do.

Though I really didn't want to, I could feel myself changing. I looked down at my fingers as they grew longer and the nails turned jagged and sharp. My arms bulged and my face expanded in length, giving room for my jaw to jut out and pointed teeth to form in my mouth. My hair grew shorter, and my ears shot up. My shirt morphed into fur, and a bushy tail appeared out of my back side. It was probably quite a sight to see, since no Eraser ever turned completely into a wolf before. Max was probably sickened at the sight, but I couldn't see her because my eyes were closed so tightly. When your whole body changes form and even your organs transform, it doesn't tickle.

That's when my wings started to buckle and fold into my back, the feathers changing to fur. I shook with pain, and one final change pulsated through me; my eyes turned from avian, to canine. I opened them slowly and Max, now black and white gaped at me. I stood on all fours and leapt at her, determined to prove that I was not a wimp. She was so freaked out that she didn't even try to block me; I hit her square in the chest and sent her toppling to the ground, pulling in her wings. One second more and they would have been crushed beneath her.

To my amusement, I found myself snarling. I guess Erasers don't do that either, because Max was really looking scared now. Imagine this scene from the eyes of a normal kid- an angel being attacked by a vicious wolf. But I didn't bite her, like other canines would, I just stood there, my paws on her chest growling low and ferocious.

That's when Max realized what had happened. One second she laid there staring up at me like I was a ghost, and the next second, I was flying through the air at a horrific speed. And remember, I no longer had wings.

She jumped up, remaining in the air longer than a normal human. "What the heck? That's not what Erasers look like!" I tried to say 'I told you so', but all that came out was a string of ranged barks. She shook her head. "But if you still want have this fight, just tell me." I barked again and she nodded, flying at me increasing in speed.

I was in pain, lying on the grass, but there was no way I was going to let her attack me while I was unprepared. I pushed myself up and pushed off the ground with my hind legs, meeting her half way. The force knocked her back, and she plummeted toward the ground. She tried desperately to regain her balance, and finally did, when her feet touched the grass. I dropped to the ground, my padded feet protecting my feet from rocks.

She kicked out, caught me in the leg and I stumbled, lifted my for-paw and stood on 3 legs. A low howl escaped my jaws and flowed through the air. Max prepared for another kick, but I was quicker. I bounded forward, limping, but only just, and caught her cheek with my claws, bring forth crimson gore. For the first time, she showed pain, barely, but I could tell it hurt. I lifted my arm, and saw that it was deep. I stopped, scared I'd really hurt her. Not a chance.

A fist flew into my doggy chest and I collapsed into the grass, gasping for breath and feeling a throbbing pain in my left arm, where Max had kicked it. But I didn't give up. I used my left arm, the one that had slit my opponent's face, to push me back. I leapt at her again and this time hit her legs. She toppled backward and landed on her wings, that lucky for her, were pulled safely in. Her face was bleeding profusely, and the blood was already rolling down her neck. She reached forward and placed her palm against the wound, trying to stop the flow. I watched curious, and she looked up, thinking I was going to bite her or something and took the same bloody hand and rammed it into my jaw knocking me backwards.

I rolled over a while, and then came to rest, my arm, jaw, chest and stomach all pounding. I heard her voice strong and indifferent to her pain, "The fight it over, Whisper." That's all I needed. Turning back into a human/bird doesn't hurt nearly as much as turning into a wolf does. It was a much quicker transformation, and soon I was lying, completely human, my clothes perfectly unharmed, in the grass on my back.

I heard Max pant; no, that was me. I struggled to sit up, and when I finally did, I saw Max laying a few feet away, blood all down the front of her shirt, and it still oozing from the source. I hopped up, stumbled, caught myself with my wings, and ran over to her. She was shaking, obviously from loss of blood, but her face remained clear. I bent over her and reached out a hand to pull her to her feet. She refused it, placed her own arms behind her back, pushed herself up and took off into the air. "Wait here, Whisper."

I stood in the field, rubbing my jaw and wishing very much that I had a mirror. I didn't hear them coming. "Hey, you! Where's Max?" It was Fang's voice that made me turn. Hey stood in front of the others, his dark sweaty hair sticking to his forehead. His arms were at his sides and his hands were fists. His dark blue jeans and black t-shirt probably made him pretty hot in this weather; but of course, I was the one wearing total black. I couldn't take it anymore, I reached behind my head and started to pull the hoody off, starting with pushing the wings through the holes. It took a second but I finally got it off. I tied it around my waist, and instantly cooled down a bit.

Fang looked really good looking standing there all leader like, and threatening my well-being with just his fists. He repeated himself more sternly. "_WHERE_ _IS MAX!_" I shrugged.

"I don't know; she flew off somewhere." That's all I said, nothing about the fight or the blood or the… Fang looked past me, at the indent in the grass. He saw the blood.

"What have you done to her?" He looked panicked, not at all calm like Max was during the fight. He ran forward, shoving me out of the way, pushing on my sore arm. My fingers tingled, warning me that they were about to morph again. I controlled the feeling and stood quietly to the side. The rest of the group ran forward to see the scene too, but no one touched me again. Iggy however stood still; he wasn't going to get anything out of seeing the blood, since he _couldn't_ see.

The Gas man whistled. "That's a lot of blood. You sure that's Max's? She wouldn't let an Eraser," he flashed me a look "hurt her that much." Fang nodded.

"That's Max's, it's human. Unless she" he started to walk toward me "hurt someone else and Max got away." He got nearer and nearer and without warning, his fist flew at my neck, but it didn't make contact. I felt myself lift off the ground; Fang had a hold of my shirt collar. "You didn't' did you?"

I shook my head. "I hurt no other human."

"You hurt Max then? You did this?" I remained silent. He took that as a yes. With his other hand, he grabbed my right hand, with the caked blood until the nails and then dropped me. I landed on my feet. His face was red with anger and he kept clenching and unclenching his fist. "WHERE IS SHE?"

I didn't know. I shook my head. He turned away slowly and then suddenly turned back his fist flying at my face, so I closed my eyes preparing for the blow that I'd earned. It didn't come. I opened my eyes cautiously and saw that Fang's fist was now being held by Max's hand. Her face was bandaged with a white cloth and medicine tape, but you could already see that the cloth was turning red, and though the rest of the blood was washed from her cheek and neck, the front of her white tank-top was incredibly stained. Her face was serious. Fang looked thoroughly confused.

She spoke. "Don't touch her. It wasn't her fault, it was mine." Fang lowered his arm, and stepped back. She looked at me. "How bad hurt are you? I see you got a pretty nasty bruise on your face, and your arm is hurt by the way you're holding it. How about your stomach?" I lifted the edge of my shirt and saw another huge bruise covering my abs.

"I'll live." I noticed that the blood had already bled through the bandage on her face. "But if we don't get you stitches, you're going to bleed to death." She nodded.

"I was about to have that done, but I got a message that you were in trouble. I don't know why I came, since a few minutes ago _I_ was the trouble, but never-the-less, they slapped on the bandage and I told them I'd be right back."

"Who?" Did she actually have friends here?

She sighed, looked around the group, at Nudge who was frowning, Angel who was near tears, The Gas Man who looked like Fang, deeply confused, and Iggy, who was paying attention more than any of them. "My friends." Fang turned to her, a weird look on his face.

"Friends?" His voice wasn't cold like it'd been with me, it was caring; he really did care for her.

She nodded. "Two years ago, you know, when we went to rescue Angel from the White-Coats, I flew off to rescue this girl from a pack of bullies, and in the process, got shot." Fang walked over to her and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was afraid you'd be all 'you shouldn't have gone and helped her', but I _had_ to, I couldn't stand watching them beat her up, when it was so unfair."

"No, Max, I _would have_ understood. I know how you go for the underdog." She looked at him for a second and then turned back to me.

"Even so, I was bleeding a lot and was getting weaker by the second." She winced, as the blood pushed through the bandage and started to trickle down her face again. "So I followed the girl to her house and asked for help. They were really cool, they being her and her mom, and helped me as much as they could. I stayed for a while and then left again, back to the mission of finding Angel. They told me that any time I needed help, to come back again, and I needed help again." She closed her eyes again, and lifted a shaking hand to her cheek. "And I need it now."

Fang ran forward swept her up into his arms and started to take off, the others following. The Gas Man told Iggy and they started to fly off. I heard Max's voice strong again. "Don't forget Whisper." Fang looked back at me, his face still angered and I took off after them flapping my wings half the amount that they had to. Fang was having trouble hanging onto her and trying to remain in the air.

I flew forward and matched my wing beats with his. "Let me carry her."

"No!" He pushed down hard with his wings and got higher, but then started to sink again.

Max looked up at Fang, his health in mind, not hers, and said "Let her carry me."

He looked hurt and bleak. "But, she'll drop you."

Max shook her head slowly. "No, but if you keep trying to be a super man, you're going to fly too low and get shot down by hunters." He nodded and carefully handed her to me, a look of complete despair on his face. I felt sorry for him, but not near as much as if he'd been shot down as Max had said. I beat my wings once, soured ahead of them and saw the cabin ahead of me. I didn't know how I knew it was the right one, but for some reason, it felt right.

I started to descend, the group at my heels, until I finally touched my feet on the sidewalk leading to the door. I heard the soft pitter-patter as all the other five touched down. Angel walked ahead and rang the door bell. We knew that if this wasn't the right house, we'd all be caught, but we also knew that if we didn't chance it and ask for help, Max was going to die.


	2. chapter 2

The door opened and a girl about Nudge's age stepped out, she was kind of scared to see us all standing there, but when she was Max draped in my arms, she calmed a bit. "Mom! Max is back!" She turned and looked at the others carefully. "And she brought her friends!"

A lady, nice and pretty looking stepped out of the house, saw Max draped in my arms and ran over to me. "Oh my! Get her in here right now! Ella, fix our guests some drinks. I started to follow her, but Fang cut in and scooped Max out of my arms.

"I can take it from here, thanks." His voice was surprisingly thankful, and I nodded. Max's eyes were closed, but she wasn't unconscious. He looked down at here, assumed the opposite and said, "She _is_ my girlfriend." Max's eyes shot open and she stared up at Fang astonished. His breath caught, seeing her awake and he just gaped at her.

I laughed, "It's not like I'm trying to cut in." Fang smiled and carried Max into the house. I turned to Ella and she motioned into the house. The whole group followed.

"Hi." Ella's voice was shaky and I could tell she didn't have many friends. "You guys want some juice?"

In unison, all of us nodded. She giggled nervously and got the orange juice out of the fridge. She went to the cabinet, tried to pull out like 6 cups at once. The Gasman ran over, being a perfect gentle man and helped her carry the cups over to the counter and pour the juice.

"Thanks…" She paused, waiting for him to fill in the name.

He smiled. "Gasman. Max calls me Gazzy, but that's _only_ Max." She nodded.

"I get it, Gasman. You other's got cool names too?" The rest of the group shook their heads enthusiastically.

Angel stepped forward first, looking sweet and innocent, her light brown hair covering the gills in her neck. "I'm Angel."

"Of course you are!" Ella handed everyone a cup and Iggy's hand fumbled for the glass. Ella stared at him for a second, but not long enough to seem rude.

He sipped the glass. "I'm Iggy, so I'm blind, I do fine usually. Sometimes I mess up." He seemed a little agitated.

"We all mess up Iggy, it's okay." She seemed caring and nice, just like her mother. "My uncle used to be blind, couldn't see a thing his whole life! But last year he had eye surgery, quick and painless, and now he can see!" Iggy's face looked thoughtful, then scared.

The Gasman shook his head. "You'd have to let Iggy have a lot of time to think about it. Surgery is the reason he's blind." Ella's eyes got wide.

Iggy stepped back and took another sip of his juice, trying to act like it was a normal snack. "Enough about me, next person." Nudge's turn.

"I'm Nudge, I'm 13. It's really cool to meet you and I _love_ this orange juice! Where'd you get it? Not that we can just waltz into a store and buy any though." She looked over to The Gasman who shrugged; Fang wasn't here to stop her and they _had_ to know Max had wings. Nudge let out her wings a bit and smiled mischievously. "Stores have signs that say 'no pets allowed'."

Ella's eyes got bigger and bigger and her mouth kinda fell open. "And you?" She was talking to me.

"I'm Whisper, I don't really belong here and it's just kinda lucky I'm here at all." She looked at me surprised and scanned me over, noting my limp arm and bruised face smeared with blood where Max had punched me with her bloody hand.

"You better come with me; you're hurt too." I followed her down the hall way and into the bathroom.

Max was sitting on the edge of the bathtub with Fang sitting beside her, holding her up while Ella's mom sewed up Max's face with black medical twine. Ella looked at Max and winced when she saw the needle pierce the skin. "You doin' okay?"

Max looked up at Ella and smiled. "I'll be fine."

Ella's mother nodded. "Luckily she got here before she lost _too much_ blood. I'll just finish this up," her needle went through a last time and she pulled it tight. Max shut her eyes and Fang squeezed her hand. Ms. Ella's Mom cut the string and tied it. "done!" A look of relief spread across Max's face.

"Thank God." She stood up and Fang stood up too.

"You must be Whisper, the cause of this." For some reason, Ella's mom's face still looked happy. "Max told me all about it." Fang flashed me a look, and Max shook her head at him. "I'm Dr. Martinez, have a seat."

I sat down on the bathtub edge slowly, afraid of her. She took hold of my sore arm and slowly lifted it, I bit my lip. "It's only really bruised, not broken or sprained, thank goodness." She sat it back down and placed her hand under my chin turning her face in her hands. "Ella, hand me a wash cloth." She washed my face slowly, getting off all of Max's blood, she turned to Max frowning. "She's more banged up than you, but she's got _your_ blood on her face; what _did_ you two fight for?" Max shrugged, Fang's arm around her shoulders. Dr. Martinez rolled her eyes. "For goodness sake, Ella, get Max a shirt."

The three exited and left me with Ella's mom. She finished with my face and rose to rinse out the wash-cloth. "You hurt anywhere else?" I lifted the edge of my shirt and she walked back over to me. "What a huge bruise!" She poked it gingerly. It hurt a lot but not terribly. "But no broken ribs? You guys sure are strong." She stood up again. "You'll just have to let those heal, but I'll be glad to give you an ice pack to hold on her stomach."

I followed her into the kitchen where the rest of the group stood around the counter.

Instead of just changing my shirt, Ella told me to go and take a nice long shower. She said she'd let us _all_ take showers; she was wonderful. The shower felt like heaven and my cheek, though incredibly sore, wasn't pounding nearly as much as it had been. And best of all, Ella's mom washed my pants and stuff while I showered so I could put on clean clothes when I got out.

I scrubbed myself down and lifted my head under the shower head, accidentally swallowing some of the water. I squirted some of the shampoo into my palm and worked it into my shiny black hair, washing out any grime that had gotten into it in the fight. It wasn't as if I hadn't taken a shower in a long time- I had one the night before, but this one felt so darn good.

After I felt like I was thoroughly clean, I turned off the water and climbed out onto the bathroom rug wrapping myself up in a towel, my hair dripping onto the floor. I turned back around and rung it out over the tub.

I opened the door slowly and found my clothes hung on the door knob. The only thing that was missing was my trusty tank-top, which I suspected was too blood soaked to be saved. I pulled on the war blue-jeans and Ella's red t-shirt and used the towel to dry my hair a little more. I hung the towel back on the rack and stepped out of the bathroom, my hair still a little damp.

The living room was packed with everyone. Dr. Martinez was sitting on the couch talking to Iggy about animals, Ella was sitting in the floor chatting with Nudge about normal girl stuff, Gazzy and Angel were playing rock paper scissors on the carpet, Whisper was sitting in a chair in the corner, looking depressed as usual, and Fang sat up against the wall, his tanned arms behind his head. He saw me and smiled, revealing a rather pointed tooth.

Dr. Martinez looked up and everyone turned to me. "Hey honey, your cheek okay?" I nodded. Dr. Martinez turned back to the others. "Who's next?" Angel hopped up and ran over to me, hugging me tightly, her nose shoved into my arm.

"You okay Max? Everything fine?" I smiled and hugged her back.

"I'm fine, you go take your shower now." I squeezed her shoulders and she looked up concerned into my face.

"It'll stop hurting soon enough." Of course she'd heard me think 'my face hurts like heck' because that's just one of the cool things about Angel- reading minds. I pinched her cheek and she ran off to the bathroom. I walked over to the group and sat down beside Gazzy, running my fingers through his white blonde hair. I noticed Fang's eyes drift close. That guy waited until I was through with my shower to make sure I was okay, even though he was so tired from searching for Angel's dog all day. Oh my gosh! Angel's dog!

I crawled over to Fang and got ready to shake his arm and remind him about Total, but decided against it; the guy needed rest, and I wasn't going to deny him that. I stood up quietly and walked over to the couch where Dr. Martinez and Iggy were sitting.

"Igg, what about Total?" Iggy turned toward me, and Dr. Martinez did the same.

"Total?" Dr. Martinez looked at me. "Is one of you guys lost?"

I shook my head and she sighed relieved probably that there was no one else. "Total is Angel's dog. Angel's the one in the shower."

"Yeah, Fang introduced me to all of them while you were bathing. Real nice kid, Fang." I blushed and she smiled. "You guys stay here tonight and tomorrow you can look for her dog. It's getting late, and I don't want you back out there." I looked over to Fang to make sure this was okay with him, but of course, he was fast asleep, looking completely calm and peaceful.

All of a sudden Dr. Martinez's eyes glinted, remembering something. "Do you all have…" She stopped.

"Yeah, we all have wings."

Ella looked up at me, grinning in a sisterly manner. "Mom, we have a flock of birds in our living room." Dr. Martinez gave her a stern look, like she thought Ella said something rude, but when Nudge giggled and I laughed, her face softened.

I yawned and laid back against the couch, and felt something sharp press into my hip. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the ATM card that was mine. Dr. Martinez looked at me slowly.

"What's that?" I explained how I'd found it and for some reason, once I'd started, I couldn't stop. I told her everything, about the school, about the Erasers, about Angel, and about my 'voice'. She was silent the whole time, taking it all in, and Ella was listening intently now too.

Sometime in between this, Angel got back, sat down beside me and Nudge got up to take her shower. Gazzy was dozing on the carpet too, and Iggy helped me tell the story. Whisper had been so quiet I'd almost forgotten she was there.

Once I was finished I sat back again and pulled Angel, smelling of soap and shampoo into my lap.

"So you have no idea where or who your parents are?" The three of us shook our heads in unison. "And a _scientist_ did this to Iggy's eyes?" We nodded together. "And Angel can _breathe_ under water?" Angel looked up at her solemnly and nodded. "Those terrible men!" The white-coats were much worse than that.

I heard scuffling on the carpet and Nudge appeared from the hall-way, her hair wet and hanging in dark brown strands across her face. "That feels better." She came over and she squeezed in beside Iggy and me. "Who's next?" She walked over to The Gasman and shook him awake. He sat up, rubbed his sleepy eyes and walked to the bath room like a droid. He was so going to bed when he got out.

Dr. Martinez still looked appalled at the thought of The School. She stayed silent for a few moments, thinking it through. "I know some doctors who could fix Iggy's eyes." Iggy shivered, remembering how he'd lost his vision. "It's expensive, but painless. He'd have to wear glasses though." I looked at Iggy and tried to read his expression; we had enough, plus more, on the card to pay for it. His face was blank and he kept blinking his empty eyes.

"Will they wear white coats?"

Dr. Martinez didn't laugh. "I could get them to wear blue. They're really nice, and not at all like the white-coats. I promise." Iggy's face remained blank, and he turned his head toward me.

"Can we afford it Max?" He sounded like he was actually considering it.

"Of course, Igg." He nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess there's nothing to lose." Dr. Martinez smiled.

"I'll go call him and we'll arrange it for tomorrow." He nodded again and laid back against the couch back as Ella's mom went off to the kitchen. Iggy was silent until Gazzy got back to give him the shower. Iggy went willingly and Gazzy took his place on the couch, almost instantly drifting back to sleep. Angel climbed off my lap and I stood up, allowing her to lay on the couch too.

I turned toward the chair in the corner and saw almost instantly that Whisper was gone. She's walked out silently, and I'd never even noticed. She was so agitating! I stood up, walked into the kitchen, opened the front door and stepped out into the yard. The sky was dark blue with stars dotted across it. One star was moving, and it wasn't a star.

Whisper flew on, not daring to stop, and I didn't go after her this time. If she didn't want to stay and associate like a normal human being (even though we were FAR FROM normal human beings), then it was her loss. The flock was waiting for me inside, and I didn't want to waste my time chasing her. I turned back around, walked back inside, shutting the door and locking it. Iggy was walking back from the shower; it was Fang's turn, and somebody had to wake him.

Angel and Gazzy were asleep on the couch, Nudge was following Ella to her room and Iggy was settling comfortably into Whisper's chair. Fang was still asleep against the wall, looking solitary and comfortable. I walked over to him, my bare feet padding on the carpet. I place my hand on his shoulder and out of instinct, his other hand flew forward and grabbed mine.

We stared at each other for a second and then I looked away. "It's your turn to take a shower." He stretched and stood up, his face sleepy. He pulled his hand from mine and put it under my chin.

"I'm glad you're okay Max. I dunno what I'd do without you." I blushed fiercely and he smirked slyly. He let his hand slide down and fall. I watched curiously as he walked to the bathroom and slide inside, not making one sound. Boy was he the silent type.


End file.
